The Legends were looking to build on their narrow penalty shootout loss against a far superior team, and this week it looked like they would also have enough players to help. The Barnstonworth team were top heavy with a strong attacking threat while vulnerable at the back, so it would be a question of whether the Legends could score enough to make it a contest. Initially there were some nice patches of play but the final ball continued to elude them. The closest chance in the first few minutes was an errant pass by Rosenbloom that almost bizarrely ended up in the far corner, agonizingly inches away. Meanwhile the Legends back four were able to stymie the attacking threat, but finally they were breached. A superb turn on the line resulted in a cross that was skillfully turned in to give the Rovers the lead. With only a few minutes to the half a second goal came in quickly to put Barnstonworth in control.

The strategy had to be clear given the respective league positions, with the Legends moving towards a 4-3-3 and trying to get Swinkels more involved. The gambling on putting pressure resulted in winning some balls deep but not enough clear chances, with only one or two long distance shots attempted. Meanwhile another nice piece of skill up top saw the opposition take an unassailable 3-0 lead. Finally Swinkels was able to slide Mckeown in for a consolation goal, but they could not quite get that second goal that could turn the pressure on. Faherty’s bull in a china shop routine up top did unsettle the defence and caused a mistake that the Legends just could not capitalize on, the accidental nutmeg summarizing the day.

Although the Legends seem to be returning to health, so far it has been a disappointing spring and the hope is that they can perform creditably in the last 3 games and build the foundation for a strong season next year.

Competition: Barnstonworth Rovers Veterans, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #72, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Lovely spring morning

Fans: None

Result: 1-3 HT: 0-2

Goals: 1:3 Mckeown Assist Swinkels

Yellow Cards: N/A

Red Cards: N/A

Mike D’s aka No Shows: Tony Vamvouris neglected to update the evite regarding his injury, although fortunately we had added Ronnie Swinkels from the day before.

”Mr. Glass” Fragility/Old Man Injury Award: Tom Pattinson tried to give the leg a run out, hopefully it will be better the next week.

Old Man of the Match: Despite the 3-1 reverse there were good performances all over the field. Teesdale in the unsung hero role as the defensive midfielder while the defenders did what they could against one of the quicker, talented attacks they will see. In the end it was Ronnie Swinkels playing as attacking midfield who was all over the field and unlocked the defence for the sole goal from Mckeown.

Old Man of the Bar: The 8am start meant it was the first test of Mad River sponsor bar availability, one which they passed with flying colours. The shot total will definitely need to be toned down in the future but in the meantime Venkataraman hit double figures including some rather large shot pours to cover up the pain of the Liverpool loss.

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Statistic of the week: Mckeown continuing to push the lifetime statistics up, now tied for second all time goals at 18 with Venkataraman.

Team Bar Showing: 3 out of 16 (19%)

Team Bar Night: 2.5 out of 5. Only Tier 1 showed up, but there was decent longevity especially with the Grays and Edmunds showing up after the derby.

The ongoing saga of scraping up enough players to play a game continued. With many hours and numerous emails out to the club, the Old Boys and Legends were able to scrape up enough players not just to play but also to substitute. In fact, by game time the Legends had 16 available allowing Resnik to focus on coaching and resting his aching knees while Subah’s partying was no hindrance to having him throw his weight around for the Legends as opposed to the Old Boys. The opposition were in the Over 30’s division and certainly looked the part based on their pregame drills. The Legends were more interested in introducing themselves to the other CPR team members helping out from the Oranges, Old Boys and Grays. They had plenty of time to do so given the referee’s extreme tardiness in showing up 20 minutes after scheduled kickoff.

With the field feeling slightly smaller than #74 it helped the older Legends remain compact and challenge Celtic to break them down. In addition it meant clearances allowed the forwards a chance to chase the ball down and put the opposition defence under pressure. The Legends were also trying to pick and choose their moments as to when to press, some of the bouncy balls causing control issues and helping defensive pressure. Although Celtic were able to pass the ball around they had difficulty getting any decent shots off, the field as much of a help as Pier 40 had been a hindrance the week before. The Legends actually had a chance to take the lead early as Accordino’s header found Mckeown who uncharacteristically sliced his shot when well placed. A few other flicks into the box eluded the attackers but the Legends were the team relieved and encouraged to reach the half deadlocked.

The half time talk emphasized defence, communication and pressing when the opportunity was available. As time went by, the Legends gained confidence and continued to snap into tackles. Celtic were larger and more physical and hence won most of the headers, but the Legends at least tried to make it difficult. Both teams had chances although Celtic had more, however an xG map would probably have shown most of the shots were of low probability. CPR rapidly became used to how each other played and the team ethos grew and solidified, all starting with the solid back line.

Finally the Legends were able to get the game over the line to penalties. Celtic won the toss and correctly chose to go first, burying their first kick. Venkataraman surprised many with one of the better penalties you will ever see, top left corner. The opposition scored next and then Mckeown also made up for a previous penalty miss, tying the shootout at 2-2. Up stepped the Celtic player to balloon the ball over the bar, opening the door wide for the Legends to win their first ever penalty shootout. Unfortunately defender Calcagni’s shot clipped the left post and went wide. Celtic scored next and D’Andrea tied it up with a clinical shot into the right side netting, eluding the goalie who chose the right direction to dive. It was now essentially sudden death. Celtic scored and it was upto Blagojevic, who had been immense all game. Unfortunately it was not to be as his shot went well wide of the left hand post. It was a cruel ending for the Legends who had executed their David strategy to perfection without being able to push on over the finish line to their first Semifinal. The hope is that they can take this promising performance and one more week’s rest for the injured and focus on finishing strongly in the last 4 games of the season, with potentially a playoff berth at stake.

Competition: Manhattan Celtic Bhoys, League Opposition

Location: Randall’s Island #73, Randall’s Island

Conditions: Lovely spring morning

Fans: 4 (Isadora, Emilio, Harriet, Laura)

Result: 0-0 HT: 0-0

Goals: N/A

Shootout:

1-1: Venkataraman

2-2: Mckeown

2-2: MISS Calcagni

3-3: D’Andrea

4-3: MISS Blagojevic

Yellow Cards: N/A

Red Cards: N/A

Mike D’s aka No Shows: N/A

Conboy’s aka Reverse Mike D’s: Ernest Subah, whose birthday celebrations were so exuberant that the striker needy Old Boys passed him over to the Legends.

Old Man of the Match: Lots of contenders including Telly in goal, Belizan at Centerback and Accordino running box to box down the sideline. Blagojevic would have taken it home but for the game losing penalty miss, and so in a narrow decision Belizan takes it for locking the defence down and anticipating and breaking up attacks.

Old Man of the Bar: A rare appearance by Mazzi saw him get his full money’s worth.

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Statistic of the week: Belizan now has twice as many Old Man of the Match awards as the nearest contender Sean Street.

Team Bar Showing: 6 out of 16 (38%)

Team Bar Night: 4.5 out of 5. A decent chunk of people made it back and stuck around a while, and the Women’s Whites also made it all the way up from East 6th Street as well as Doug playing for the Old Boys. A good afternoon was had by all, depth and longevity. Masters in the background didn’t hurt.

After the weekly hours spent trying to get a scant 11 it looked like this week there would be some cautious injured substitutes that could provide a few minutes respite. The previous weeks had aggravated injuries among a few forced to play 90 minutes, but this week in a welcome reversal there were a full 16 available to play. On the vast field of Pier 40 having substitutes was critical, especially against a Celtic team who knew exactly how to play on their home field. The game started evenly enough but soon it was apparent that the opposition knew the best way to play on the field was to constantly switch sides. Knowing and executing are two different things, but they showed the capability to do so. Meanwhile the Legends showed a propensity to shrink back towards their area with the dual issues of giving Celtic more space while putting them under immediate pressure when they finally did get the ball.

The first goal conceded by the Legends was farcical. Under no pressure Tony Vamvouris passed back to Telly who inexplicably picked it up. An indirect free kick within the box showed the Legends football IQ at its most awkward, with two men on the post and everyone rushing the kicker instead of focusing on marking potential receivers on an indirect kick. As everyone rushed the kicker the player to the side hammered the ball straight into the net. The Legends struggled to respond with their closest chance a glancing header by Rosenbloom.

Given their inability to make simple passes and hold the ball being down only a goal at the half was far from the worst thing that could happen. The team was urged to pressure as a unit which was critical on this large field as well as spread the ball and make the simple passes. Unfortunately the second half had Celtic get even more of the ball and put the vice on possession. Sporadic attacks by the Legends resulted in very few direct chances on goal, a shot by Hahn and a header by McKeown proving to be the most they could muster. As they stretched further up, gaps opened at the back that were exploited by Celtic. A second goal made it very difficult for the Legends to get a result, and a beauty of a third goal ended the game as a competitive match. Celtic still had time to have a goal disallowed for offside and a final tap in that demonstrated the athletic gap between the two teams as the outside left midfielder simply outran everyone to square the ball for a goal. The glimmer the Legends had was extinguished when the referee decided to implement his own rules in deciding a hand pushed in the face of a Legend was only bookable and not a sending off offense. Even if the player was rightly sent off, given the difference in play of the two teams it was highly unlikely that the Legends would have been able to get anything out of the game.

A disappointing start to the spring that is the inverse of the start of the Fall. Injuries and absences have had a huge part to play, but there’s a distinct memory loss of what we are playing for, which is love of the game. People in their 40’s aren’t playing to win the Champions League, they are playing because they still love to play. Losing is no fun, but moaning about it is even less fun. As players return to fitness and availability the hope is the Legends rediscover that love and the correlation to good results.

Competition: Manhattan Celtic, League Opposition

Location: Pier 40 East, Manhattan

Conditions: Pleasant spring evening

Fans: Tom Pattinson making an appearance, hopefully in advance of a playing appearance

El Presidente (Old Men who don’t make it to game but come to the bar): None.

Statistic of the week: Nothing notable.

Team Bar Showing: 6 out of 16 (38%)

Team Bar Night: 3.5 out of 5. Although the 8:30pm start time would indicate fewer people, the adrenaline and the fact kids were in bed for relevant people meant a decent showing. A few Stella pitchers were had.